By MarketWatch
NEW YORK (MarketWatch) — Energy stocks traded flat to lower Friday, unable to sustain an initial move into positive territory, as crude-oil futures dipped and as the broader equities market settled into a narrow range.
In the energy pits, crude futures dropped 0.2% to $74.40 a barrel.
The NYSE Arca Oil Index (XOI 991.89, -6.36, -0.64%) fell fractionally to 998, while the Philadelphia Oil Service Index (OSX 185.28, -1.07, -0.57%) dropped 0.3% to 186. The NYSE Arca Natural Gas Index (XNG 505.80, -4.40, -0.86%) lost 0.2% to 509.
Shares of Devon Energy (DVN 61.64, -0.47, -0.76%) sank 0.4% to $61.84.
Late Thursday, the company said it’ll spend $1.2 billion to develop the Jackfish 3 oil-sands project in Alberta, Canada. Pending regulatory approval, Devon will begin construction late in 2011 with plant start-up projected for 2015.
Devon expects Jackfish 3 to produce an average of 35,000 barrels a day before royalties. To extract the oil, Devon burns natural gas to create steam, which gets injected into the reservoir and heats up the oil and causes it to flow to the surface.
Meanwhile, construction on Jackfish 2 is 85% complete at an expected cost of $1 billion. It remains on schedule to start up in 2011.
